Scotland’s largest local authority plans to cut 172 teaching posts as councils attempt to plug holes in their budgets.
Glasgow city council is set to shed the primary and secondary teaching roles over the next year as part of a three-year plan to save £27.8 million on “education service reform���.
The reductions will put further strain on the SNP’s pledge to increase teacher numbers by 3,500 by 2026. Official figures show that the total has dropped for two years in a row.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said that “most councils” were discreetly cutting teacher numbers by not filling vacancies and putting teachers on short-term contracts that are not renewed.
He said: “Whilst the local authority and the Scottish government flex their muscles in a playground standoff, the teaching profession and the students have become the weaponised instrument of their political bickering.
Advertisement
“To reduce the number of teachers will only exacerbate an already failing system that requires considerable amounts of free overtime to ensure that our children are given the best education possible.
“These antics will only see the attainment gap widen to the detriment of our students and impact on their future life choices. Grow up, show a little maturity and work together.”
In North Ayrshire the council plans to cut 35 full-time teaching jobs in a review of “staffing allocations” that is set to save the authority £1.3 million. A spokesman said the reduction had been driven by demographic changes meaning that fewer pupils attended the area’s schools.
Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland’s largest teaching union, said: “As more and more local authorities reveal their budget plans, it is becoming increasingly clear that education provision across Scotland is being targeted for further deep and damaging cuts to resources, provision and staffing.
“These cuts are absolutely counter to the Scottish government’s stated commitments to protect teacher numbers and pupils’ learning entitlement, and also fly in the face of the ongoing commitment to reduce the poverty-related attainment gap in Scotland’s schools. Our schools are already under-funded and under-resourced, so the prospect of further cuts will be devastating news for teachers, pupils and entire school communities.”
Advertisement
In December the triennial international education results comparison survey, Pisa, showed that pupil performance in Scotland slumped in maths, science and reading. The drop in achievement in Scotland since 2006 is equivalent to missing 21 months of science lessons and more than 18 months of maths, according to expert analysis.
The Glasgow plans were revealed after teacher trade union meetings with the education director at the council. The cuts will represent about 3 per cent of the teachers employed by the council, which spends more than half of its service expenditure on education.
• What went wrong with the Scottish education system?
The cuts come after EIS reported last year that teachers and parents had resorted to paying for classroom basics such as colouring pens, glue sticks and past exam papers amid “severe pressure” on school budgets.
A Glasgow council spokeswoman said: “Officers are looking at several education service reform options as part of a budget that is required to find £107 million worth of savings from council services over the next three years.
Advertisement
“For many years education spending has been protected, relative to other services, in the budget process. However, with the education budget now amounting to more than half of service expenditure directed by the council, the level of savings required in the current financial situation is significantly more challenging.”
The Scottish government has said it would provide local authorities with £145.5 million in the next budget to protect teacher numbers, a decision criticised by Cosla, which represents local authorities and argues that it will result in swingeing cuts to other vital children’s services.
A government spokeswoman said: “The Scottish budget for next year includes record funding for local authorities of over £14 billion and Scotland’s education and skills budget has grown to over £4.8 billion. Councils have statutory obligations in respect of education, and have a shared commitment with the Scottish government to deliver the best outcomes for people and communities.”
